


The Princess and the Turtleduck (Zutara week 2018, Day 4: Turtleduck)

by ZutaraWasRobbed



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Adorable, Alternate Universe - The Princess and the Frog (2009) Fusion, Children, F/M, Forbidden Love, Legends, Love, Love at First Sight, Soul Bond, Soulmates, True Love, True Love's Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-20 13:30:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15535311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZutaraWasRobbed/pseuds/ZutaraWasRobbed
Summary: Zuko is a turtleduck who believes he will never find his mate. That is until one day a young princess named Katara comes by to feed him. It's love at first feed, but the only problem is... His mate is a human. (Zutara meets the Princess and the Frog, enough said)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do now own Avatar the last Airbender. If I did, I'd be writing a spin off about Zutara right now!
> 
> Also. This entire piece was inspired by the most adorable artwork I've ever seen of Zutara. This person is truly talented! Link to artwork below
> 
> http://seadolph.tumblr.com/image/176521060925

 

Zuko spends his days in the sun waddling around the pond inside the courtyard of the Fire Nation palace. He loves the feel of the water on his wings. But, his favorite part of the day is when princess Katara from the Southern Water Tribe comes to visit him. Ever since he turned 18 in duck years (6 in human years), Katara has been there taking care of him. He was not considered a strong enough bird for his family and cast out at a young age. His father branded him with a mark on the left side of his face in order to tell the rest of the birds that he was not eligible enough to be a mate. But, when Katara first arrived to the Fire Nation, unlike the rest of the kingdom, she saw him hiding and picked him up. Yet, she didn't stop there. She fed him and hugged him. She even caressed the scarred side of his face. It was that moment that Zuko was certain he found his mate. He knows that she’s human and that she is betrothed to the king, but he can't help but love her more and more everyday.

The second day she came to the pond, it was the next best day of his life. At first he thought she was going to simply forget about him. But no, she saw him hidden and once again picked him up and told him about her new life at the palace. 

After about an hour of speaking and petting his head, she said, “you know, little one? You are the first person to really listen to me.” Catching what she said, she giggles, “then again, you aren't really a _person_ are you?”

Zuko quacks sadly and nuzzles his head under her chin. Her reaction surprised him. She brought him up and nuzzled her cheek against his. It was the most amazing day of his life. He knew he was probably blushing, but he didn't care. His mate was caressing him.

Katara can't explain it, butfor some reason she always finds herself heading towards the Turtleduck pond. It feels as if another worldly force is controlling her and pulling her towards _him_. From the first day Katara entered the courtyard she was immediately drawn to the yellow turtleduck with the scar. She thought he was the most adorable creature ever. His yellow fuzz, the little tuft of black hair on his head, and the cute tail that looked shockingly similar to the fire lord insignia made him all the more intriguing. The turtle shell only made him look even more adorable.

Yes, she knows he is only a turtleduck, but he has been the kindest to her by far. And for some strange reason she cant help but feel a need to protect him and keep him close to her at all times. Even if he only quacks, she feels as if she can understand what he’s trying to say.

When she told him of her frustration of being married off like an object rather than a person, he looked truly angry and his string of quacks sounded like that of, “You deserve better, you’re so much more than a pawn.” She knows she must sound crazy, but it’s thoughts such as those that keep her sane…

*******

Today was her first time truly getting to know Fire Lord Iroh and it was surprising to say the least… It turns out he doesn't like this marriage as much as she does and hates that he is expected to taker he innocence from her. But, he promised he wouldn't and that he would never do anything that she wasn't comfortable with. However, that wasn't even the strangest part… The strangest part was when he asked about the turtleduck she has been seeing. It was then that she knew he was far more observant that she thought.

She panicked, “I-I don't know what you’re talking about.”

Iroh calmed her, “No need to be shy my dear, that little turtleduckling has always stayed hidden, and sadly, he never found a mate. I can tell he’s taken quite a liking to you though.”

Startled by his choice of words, she said, “you can’t seriously be implying that he imprinted on me or something…”

Iroh simply laughed, “Stranger things have happened… Listen Katara, that turtleduck was never shown love as a child and you are the only one to ever do so. Which makes me wonder…”

“What?” She asks flustered.

“Have you ever been told the legend of _the lovers of the pond?”_

*******

Zuko is worried, he hasn't seen princess Katara in three days and he misses her. The first day he made it out to be that she was simply busy and sucked happily expecting her to show up the next day.

She didn’t…

Its been three days and by this day he has begin to revert to his old self, swimming sadly and hiding in the bushes where no one could see him. _She must think i’m ugly. No wonder she doesn't want to see me anymore._ Zuko starts quacking sadly at the thought and hides underneath his heel so none of the other birds can hear his sobs.

*******

A week passes and Zuko feels like he has lost a part of himself as he waddles for food. that is until he sees a press piece of bread on the floor in front of him. It is at that moment he realizes where it came from.

He looks up to see Katara smiling sheepishly at him and at that moment he doesn't care that she left him alone for a week he’s just happy that he came to see her. So, he jumps into her unprepared arms and rubs his head on under her chin.

Katara gasps and feels her heart ache with the realization that he missed her as much as she missed him.

After her talk with Iroh she was convinced that the tale was simply that- a tale. However, He said that there was a test to see if this was in fact her “mate.” She was just afraid to test it and turn out to be false.

She knows she must be crazy to hope that a turtleduck is actually meant to be the one of her life, but she can’t help it. After all that she had been through with her betrothal, all her hopes rested in this one little turtleduck and she knew she could no longer hold off the inevitable, as she had been trying to for the past week.

Carefully she sits down and settles him on her lap. She looks him in the eyes and asks him, “Little one?…What’s your name?”

_“You can’t be serious! Thats crazy!”_

_“Katara I assure you it’s not. I know that it must be hard to accept, but he very well may be your-”_

_“Hold on… You think I’m afraid that I_ am _his mate?”_

_Iroh looks at her confused. “Well, isn't it?”_

_Katara starts laughing “No…” She starts to whisper “I’m afraid that I wont be…”_

_Iroh simply smiles, “Katara there is a way to find out…”_

_“How?”_

Zuko looks u at her with saddened eyes knowing he can't answer her. And he quacks loudly _Zuko!_

Katara looks at him alarmed. “Zuko? Is your name Zuko?”

Zuko stares at her. _She understood me? She understood me!_ He starts quacking with glee. _I love you!_

Katara turns beat red. “I-I… understand you.” She says too shy to admit she understood _everything_. “My name is Katara…”

He quacks again happily. _I know and your beautiful._

“So are you Zuko.” She replies instantly.

Zuko’s feathers turn as red as the scar in his face and starts sputtering random quacks. _Beautiful- love- honor- you and me- together- tail feathers!_

*******

Since the day they realized they could understand each other through their thoughts, Katara has moved him up to her bedroom. She knows Zuko prefers it this way- he's told her… Twice! In her room is filled with silvers and blues and red hues (Zuko’s preferred color is red she learned.)

When she first moved him in with her she made sure to ask what he liked and made sure to bend a makeshift pond right next to her bed (his idea not hers) so that he could always be at her side. That pond didn't do much in regards to boundaries. Every night Katara would wake up with a turtleduck on her chest and she finds it adorable.

Iroh has told her that time is running out and that unless she finds a way to turn him humans soon, the wedding between the two of them must go on.

Sadly, the legend never spoke of how to transform a turtleduck into a human (or vise versa.) So she and Zuko reach through every school together and try to see if they can figure it out.

*******

It’s the fifth night of their search and nothing comes up. Zuko can see how tired she is, but also how determined she is to find a way. He’s always admired that part of her. But she’s falling asleep and he needs to do something. He sees a light blanket and trudges it over to her wary form. He can see that she is surprised when she shakes her head.

Katara shakes her head to see her mate holding a blanket for her in his beak. She can't help with smile at the gesture. She gently picks him up and wraps the blanket around them both, but before she falls asleep she plants a soft kiss to his scar and drifts away…

*******

Zuko has seen many things, he’s seen a platypus-bear and a polar bear dog mate (not pretty.) He’s seen his ex-duckmate Mai end up losing her shell by the same polar bear dog that he saw mate with the platypus-bear. (He found out later that the polar bear dog was brought by Katara from her homeland.) Needless to say, he’s seen it all. That’s why when Zuko wakes up and feels heavy But he has never felt _heavy_. For the first time in his life Zuko feels heavy, and… Cold? _Why am I cold, I have fur… wait a second?_ In that moment he opens his eyes and look down to see his waterbender sprawled out on his _Lap_ in a deep slumber. _What’s happening?_ He looks at his hands and confirms his suspicions. He’s _human_.

He knowns he should wake her up… But she just feels so right in his arms. He warps his arms around her tightly and revels in her warmth. She fits so perfectly in his body.

At the feel of arms wrapping around her, Katara wakes up and sees a man nuzzling his chin on top of her head. She freezes, but quickly blushes when she feels a sense of familiarity from this mans embrace. She can't explain it, but for some reason she just _knows_ this is her turtleduck. She knows they have succeeded.

**One Month Later**

It’s been one month since the transformation and Zuko still can’t believe how his life has changed. In the first month of his transformation, he was Married to Katara and they were crowned Fire lord and Fire Lady. Iroh was seen as crazy to the public because he gave up his throne to a “Peasant.” However, given that Iroh was always seen as eccentric, no one thought anything of it and had high hopes that their new Fire Lord would not be so fluid with his rule.

It was only two weeks after he turned human that Iroh told him the transformation works both ways. Zuko panicked at this information and feared that every time he kissed Katara they would turn into turtleducks and humans. _How do turtle ducks even “kiss?”_ His thoughts were stopped when Iroh chuckled and Zuko could see that the Fire Lord already knew what he was thinking.

“Zuko, you and Katara can transform at will. However, these transformations will only last until you and your mate become parents. At that time you must choose in what way you plan to live your lives, as humans or as a turtleducks.”

Thinking back on that moment, Zuko remembers their first time as Turtleducks like it was yesterday…

“ _C’mon Katara it’s not that hard.” Zuko yells from the pond._

_Katara falls into the water. “Easy for you to say, you’ve been doing this all your life. I just got these webbed feet today!” She yells as her mate swims to her._

_After days of convincing her to swim with him in his original form, Zuko finally got katara to accept. This was her first time being a turtleduck and he thought she was absolutely adorable. Her fur was a deep brown with a brows stripe down the middle of her head. She still had her hair loopies by the side of her face her sides. And her betrothal necklace that was given to her by her mother still hung around her neck as she tried to learn how to swim with her new pair of feet. Quickly, Zuko swims to her nuzzling his beak to her cheek as he helps her steady herself in the water. After a few minutes of guiding her, she finally gets the hang of it and smiles at him._

_Katara can see he is truly happy to be sharing this part of his life with her and swims to his side to nuzzle his cheek. This man has made her the happiest she’s ever been. She loves her not-so-little guy and can't wait to spend the rest of her life with him. Sadly, she knows that once they decide to have children they will no longer be able to turn back and forth from human to turtleduck and Katara decides that she will go out here with him as much as possible until the time comes._

Today is what Zuko has decided would be their last time as turtleducks. For he’s decided that he’s ready for he and his mate to have children. He’s always wanted a family of his own and the fact that his counsel has already been pressuring he and his wife to have a child, only strengthens his resolve.

Quietly he enters his shared living quarters with his wife and sits on the side of their bed and calls for her to join him.

*******

Katara is confused when she sees her husband with a determined look on his face. She’s just taken a bath and is in her nightdress when she sits down next to him.

“Hey sweetie…. Is everything okay?” She asks.

“Yes, but I wanted to tell you something.”

Katara can clearly see in his face that he’s very serious… Especially with how formal he’s speaking. “Okay what’s up?” She tries to lighten the mood.

“Well… Um.” He scratches his head. Then looks at her with a stronger look of determination on his face. “We should have children!”

Katara is certain if her eyes could bulge out of her head they would. _Don't laugh. Don’t laugh. DON’T LAUGH._

She laughs.

“We _just_ got married… Like a week ago, and you want to have children, now?”

Zuko huffs. “The counsel says tha-”

 _Oh Agni of course…_ “So… you're saying that you want to have children because the counsel says we should?”  
“Well they said it is my duty as Fire Lord to continue the line of succession. Now. How do remake your nest to lay your eggs?”

“The Counsel also told me that I had to shave my head before the wedding in or-” She stops as soon as she really listens to what her husband just said. “Wait… Did you just ask me where I’m supposed to lay my eggs?”

Zuko looks at her with confusion lining his face. “Yes, how else will our children be hatched?” He looks at her as if she is crazy for even asking such a question.

Katara slaps her forehead. _Agni bless his soul._ Hesitantly, she moves closer to him and quickly takes his hand. “Zuko. Humans don’t lay eggs to have a baby.”

Zuko looks at her as if she is the strangest being in the world. “Then how do humans have children?”

The waterbender blushes. “Well- um- when a man and a woman love each other very much-”

“We love each other very much.”

She lets out an irritated sigh “Yes Zuko. Let me finish.” She sees him nod. “When a man an a woman love each other very much they do a very special act that, if intended, can create a child. But, most people just enjoy doing the act because-”

“If you aren’t creating a child why would you do it at all?”

 _Okay, time for a different approach_. “So you know the feeling you get when we kiss?”

“Yes…”

“It feels good right?”

“Yes! Really good. But then my pant get tight and I feel hot and sweaty all of the sudden and then I get violent urges and-”

“Did you just say you get violent Urges?”

“Yes. I get the sudden urge to throw you against the wall and kiss you harder and other times I get the urge to push you down on the bed, pin you down and-”

“Okay. Okay. I get it! Just so you know those aren't violent urges.” She says with a deep red blush lining her cheeks.

“Then… What are they?”

 _Am I really having “the talk” with my husband. Oh he was a turtle duck for most of his life, give him a break._ “Uh well, back to kissing. You feel good when we kiss and you get… urges. Well what if I told you there was something better than kissing?”

Zuko looks at her with a shocked expression on his face. “It gets better?!”

Katara quickly covers his mouth. “Yes Zuko. Yes it does, and _because_ it gets better, people get the same urges as you do, but they act on them and in return they can create a child.”

“From kissing?”  
_Okay that’s it._ Before he can get another word out she jumps into his arm and kisses him. She feels his arms wrap tightly around her waist. She deepens the kiss and wills his mouth open with her tongue and tightens her arms around his neck to pull him down onto the bed.

“Katara!” he gasps. “We can’t. I’ll hur-”

Katara kisses him again and before he can speak, “Shut up and just go through with your urges.”

Things seem to finally click in Zuko’s head because all of the sudden she’s under him and he's taking off his royal robe.

*******

 _Ho-ly. shit! So much better than a kiss! Oh. My. Gods._ Zuko looks up at the ceiling as he feels his wife stir in his arms.

“Zuko?” she mutters on his chest, still recovering from the earlier tryst.

“Uh huh?” Zuko’s not entirely sure what she wants to talk about, but he’s certain about one thing. he wants to do it again.

“So um… That’s how children are made.” she says shyly and slightly out of breath.  
_Ohhhh! Now I get it._ “I like making children.”


	2. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A looks at our two turtleducks with their little ducklings.

 

“Ainu, what did I saw about breathing fire on your brother?” Katara asks her daughter sternly.

Ainu winces and slumps, and mutters “you said don't do it.”

Katara sighs and looks into her daughters gold eyes, “and what did you do?”

“I spit fire.” the four year old crosses her arms with a pout.

“Exactly. Now… Why did you do it this time?”

Ainu breathes an annoyed sigh, “Kasai was just grabbing my toys, and they're _my_ toys, not his.”

Katara shakes her head. “Ainu… your brother’s only one, he doesn’t know what he's doing, he just wants to play with you. what did we say about sharing?”

“Sharing is caring.” She sighs out in defeat.

Katara pinches the bridge of her nose, something she got from her husband, and sighs. _This child is as moody as her father._ But then she sees her start to cry. _Oh no! Wha- baby no! Don't cry._ Katara panics, and pulls her daughter into her arms. “Shhh. Sweetie, it’s okay. It's okay!”

Ainu starts balling her eyes out, and sniffs. “I don't want you and daddy to hate me.”

Katara pulls her daughter tighter against her. “Sweetie, we could never hate you, we love you. Daddy and I love you and Kasai so much, we could never hate you.”

“But then why do you spend more time with little brother instead of me? Is it because I’m bad?”

Katara pulls away and brushes a strand of brown hair away from her daughters delicate face. “Ainu, your father and I have to look after your brother more because he’s still so small. He's not able to look after himself as much as you can yet. Daddy and I are so proud of you and we would never love you and less than your brother. We love you both equally.” Katara’s about to say more when her husband walks in with her son and smiles at him. “Darling? Can you tell our daughter that we would never love any of our children more than the other? She seems to think we don't love her as much as we used to.”

Zuko looks at Ainu’s crying face and puts his one year old down gently in his crib before running up to Ainu with a goofy smile and grabbing her into his arms. Ainu starts laughing as Zuko starts throwing her into the air and catching her. “Doe’s my little turtleduck think she isn't loved as much as her brother?” He asks playfully before rubbing his cheek against hers.

Ainu laughs, “No Daddy!”

Zuko feigns a pout, “are you sure?”

“Yes Daddy.”

“Okay, good. Now, why don't you get ready for bed with Grandpa Iroh while your Mommy and I get ready to tell stories?”

“Okay Daddy.” Ainu says happily. she kisses her dad on the cheek before being put down and running out of the room to find her grandpa.

Katara chuckles at her husband. It still amazes her to this day that her mate is able to put a smile on everyones face, especially hers. She was lucky. Iroh was able to make Zuko his heir by making up a story about a love child being taken away from him. The public bought it and Zuko was able to finally have a father figure. Although he still called him Uncle because that’s what she did. But looking at her daughter run happily into the other room, Katara sighs. “I don't know how you do it.”

Zuko looks at his wife with a smirk. “I don't know what your talking about.”

“oh sure… Mr. fun Dad.” She says teasingly.

“Hey, it’s not my fault our little ducklings come to me for laughter. You give them comfort and guidance, I’m only good at making them laugh.” He pulls a strand of hair from her face. “Besides, you have every right to be cranky, you’re carrying another little duckling in you right now.” He presses his hands on her swollen stomach. “she’s really kicking in there isn't she?” He swoons.

She laughs, “only because she hears your voice. She already loves her father.” Katara pushes her forehead against his and whispers. “Just like I love her father.”

“You know… Kasai’s asleep, and Uncle is probably telling stories to Ainu so…”

“Meet me in our room in five minutes.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ainu means "Miracle" in Japanese  
> Kasai means "Fire" in Japanese  
> Their unborn daughter will be names Aquas (Akwus) and she will be their only waterbending child.

**Author's Note:**

> This entire piece was inspired by the most adorable artwork I've ever seen of Zutara. This person is truly talented! Link to artwork below
> 
> http://seadolph.tumblr.com/image/176521060925


End file.
